China just agreed to talks on a historic three way summit with Trump and Putin
1 hour ago · 4 November 2026Share
Vladimir Putin sits at a meeting of heads of state of the Collective Security Treaty Organization member states. File photo. Пресс-служба Президента России · CC BY 4.0
That has never happened before. Not once, in any combination.
Mao Ning is China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. She said it a few hours ago, at a briefing. She says quote "China is maintaining communication with relevant parties regarding a potential meeting among Chinese, Russian and US leaders".
And here's what changed. Up until a day ago, China was only talking about a meeting between China and Russia. Trump wasn't even in that sentence.
Now he is.
So where could this happen? The APEC leaders' summit. Shenzhen. 18 and 19 November.
China, Russia and America are all APEC members. And Donald Trump has already agreed to go. It would be his second trip to China this year.
Here's the thing about these three men. They've all met each other. Just never all three, at once.
Xi Jinping hosted Trump at the White House in September. Putin went to see Xi Jinping in Beijing in May. Trump and Putin last met face to face in Alaska, back in August last year.
This idea started with Putin. He called Trump about four weeks ago, on 9 October, and put it to him directly.
So why does Putin want this? The Wall Street Journal says he wants to use the meeting to settle the war in Ukraine, on terms that favour Russia.
A Kremlin aide, Yury Ushakov, says Putin and Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy, talked about it again two weeks ago, in St Petersburg.
Trump says he's open to it. But he wants to talk about something completely different.
He told reporters on 19 October, quote "We would have it to talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearisation". And he said if Xi Jinping wants the meeting, he'll show up.
So look at what we've got. Three men. Three different meetings, in their heads.
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The China National Convention Center in Beijing. File photo. Arne Müseler · CC BY-SA 3.0 de
Putin wants Ukraine on the table. Trump wants nuclear weapons instead.
The day before China's confirmation, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's spokesman, told the Financial Times the planning was already happening. He says China is the main organising force behind the meeting, as the host, and that he hopes it gets finalised in the coming days.
So Beijing is holding the decision. And a person close to the talks told the Financial Times that China hasn't actually decided to go ahead yet.
There's another sign China isn't fully on board.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany's President, met Xi Jinping in China a few days ago. He says Xi Jinping seemed confused when he asked about the summit.
Steinmeier says Xi Jinping asked where the rumours even came from. Said there were no plans to talk about Ukraine at any three-way meeting. And said Europe should be in the room instead, because this is a European war.
And there's more. A person familiar with Russia's thinking told the Financial Times that Moscow doesn't expect any real Ukraine negotiation at this summit at all. The belief in Moscow is that Beijing only wants in once a peace deal is already close. So it can take the credit.
Ukraine hasn't been offered a seat at any of this.
Andrii Sybiha is Ukraine's Foreign Minister. Two weeks ago, reacting to the first reports of this plan, he said a three-way meeting of Russia, China and America would only encourage Putin to keep fighting this war.
Sybiha says a different meeting — Ukraine, America and Russia — could actually end the war sooner. And he says Putin doesn't belong at any table with Trump and Xi Jinping unless he takes a real step towards peace first. A ceasefire, for example.
So here's where this leaves us. Three leaders. Three different meetings, depending who you ask.
Putin wants a Ukraine deal. Trump wants to talk nuclear weapons. And Xi Jinping, according to Germany's President, says there's no Ukraine agenda at all.
What we don't know is whether this summit even happens. What would actually be discussed if it does. And whether Ukraine, or Europe, get anywhere near the room.
China hasn't said yes. It's only said it's talking.
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